Why Do You Need This Broadcast License?

First and foremost, understand that when you join Whisperings, you're joining a pianist community. This isn't just a radio broadcast. The radio broadcast is an extension of Whisperings, not the other way around. As a participant in Whisperings, not only will your music will be heard by thousands of new listeners every month, but you'll have the opportunity to take part in Whisperings promotional efforts, including concerts, CD samplers, live discussions, and more. In the end, Whisperings is about community - pianists supporting other pianists.

As to the license, the reason we ask you to sign it is simple. If we don't have it, the broadcast will cease to exist.

As you are probably aware, the recording industry has enacted strict legislation to control the streaming of copyrighted material on the Internet. One of the ways the industry ensures everyone is “legal” is by collecting license fees from webcasters who play copyrighted material on their broadcasts. Once paid, these license fees give a broadcaster legal permission to play virtually any music they wish.  

The thing is, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio isn’t your typical radio broadcast. Unlike commercial broadcasters who air copyrighted music from a large library of CDs, we only broadcast the music of solo piano artists who choose to use Whisperings to promote their piano music to new listeners. Since Whisperings already has permission to broadcast this music direct from the artists, there's no need for us to pay license fees to third-party agencies like SoundExchange, BMI, and ASCAP to acquire this same permission. If we did have to pay those fees, we'd be forced to shut down the broadcast. Our only other recourse would be to solicit commercial advertising or enforce listener paid subscription fees to generate revenue, and that is not something we want to do. Whisperings is about promoting your music, not selling advertising space.

So, the point of this license agreement is that when you sign it, YOU are giving us direct permission to promote your music, instead of THEM. It's as simple as that. With this license agreement on file, we can claim exemption from these fees since we have a license to play our music direct from the copyright owners.  

The biggest concern some artists have with this agreement is the fear that they might lose out on royalties as a result of signing. But in reality, you're not. Even if we paid these licensing fees, you, as the artist/composer would in all likelihood receive nothing from them (and if you did, it would be pennies). Why? Because these fees go into a general royalty fund which is distributed to major label artists as the PRO organizations see fit.

On the flip-side, we're giving your music exposure to thousands of new listeners each and every month. That means we're bringing more fans to your music in an effort to increase CD sales for you. Are you going to quibble over the possibility of losing a few cents in royalties when it might mean more income from CD sales?

Finally, remember that I'm a pianist and composer, too. In signing this agreement, I'm not asking you to do anything that I'm not already doing myself. Our little pianist community includes a number of pianists you probably already know - David Lanz, Robin Spielberg, Vicky Emerson, Craig Urquhart and others. All see the value in this community and have signed this license agreement. Won't you join us?

If you do have any questions or concerns about the agreement, feel free to email me. If you're ready to submit your music, return here for the address to send your music to.

Thank you.

David Nevue
Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio

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